


Find You

by KikiLazuli



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Bodyswap, F/F, Loosely based off the film Your Name, some cheesy universe magic type stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-08 06:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10380282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KikiLazuli/pseuds/KikiLazuli
Summary: Amethyst and Pearl weren't ones to believe in fate. But, when something unexplainable happens, they find themselves questioning everything they've ever known... and also having a little fun.





	1. Watch Out For Shooting Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw Your Name a couple days ago and was inspired to make this. If you've seen the movie, this fic is loosely based off it, so it's not going to be the exact same. So don't expect That Big Plot Twist (you know the one). And, if you haven't seen the movie, this story isn't going to be filled with spoilers, so if you wanna watch it (which I highly recommend, it's beautiful) you can do so with a fresh mind.

“You’re firing me?” Amethyst gasped.

Her face paled and she clenched her fist, trying to decide whether she was angry or hurt. Or both. It usually ended up being both.

She was standing in the doorway of her apartment, face to face with her employer, she used that term loosely, who had crudely come knocking on her door while she had been eating her dinner. Well, if a slice of pizza and a toaster strudel counted as dinner.

The man she was talking to, Marty Whatever-The-Fuck-His-Last-Name-Was, she still wasn’t sure, stared down at her and let out an annoyed breath. “I _didn’t_ say that, first of all. Second of all, if I _do_ choose to fire you, it’s your own damn fault. You’re supposed to be writing me songs, Amethyst, _good_ songs. And, so far, you’ve given me crap. Seriously, that one song about a _cheeseburger_? Did you actually expect me to like that?”

“Fuckin’ sell it as a jingle for a burger joint,” Amethyst grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest. “And, in my defense, that _was_ a joke.”

Marty groaned. “ _That’s_ the problem. You treat everything like it’s a joke. I’m managing a band here. A _real_ band, not a group of goofy little kids playing with a Fisher Price keyboard. And, they need good songs that people will actually wanna listen to. Songs that _you’re_ supposed to be writing. Look, I hired you because you’re my girlfriend’s best friend. But, if you keep fucking around like this, not even Vidalia can save you. Write me something nice by next week, or you’re done. I mean it.”

With a huff, Marty turned and stalked off down the hall. Amethyst shut her door with a slam, then felt her shoulders sink.

“Fuck,” she sighed. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

How the hell was she supposed to write something good in only a week?

So, maybe Marty was right, maybe she had been slacking off. But, that wasn’t because she didn’t take her job seriously. Writer’s block was just a bitch. And, she came up with silly little songs hoping they’d get her creative juices flowing. Only, they hadn’t, because she still had nothing.

“Fuuuck,” Amethyst cried out once again.

She didn’t want to lose her job. Writer’s block or not, she was determined to come up with something.

As it turned out, Amethyst's determination lasted a solid forty-seven minutes before it vanished.

She had plopped herself down onto her bed and screamed into her pillow, “Writing is _fucking hard_!”

She stayed there for ten minutes before she had to go to the bathroom. When she was finished, she washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror.

“You,” Amethyst pointed at her reflection. “The fuck is wrong with you, why can't you do shit? All you gotta do is write a good song. Come on, you've done it before.”

That was true. Marty had heard the old songs she'd written and liked them, which, other than Vidalia’s recommendation, was the reason she'd been hired. However, Marty didn't think _those_ songs fit the image of his band – they _were_ rather personal and Amethyst had only shown them to him because she had nothing else – so, Marty told her to use her writing skills to come up with something the band could use. Which, apparently, she couldn't fucking do.

“This is _stuuupid_ ,” she sang as she left out of the bathroom. Maybe, she could turn that into a song. Perhaps her frustration would provide as some inspiration.

Amethyst walked into her tiny living room and glanced around her dingy apartment. Maybe, that was the problem. She needed inspiration and her place definitely wasn't giving her any. She pulled her phone from her pocket and checked the time. Almost half past eight. It wasn't too late for her to go on a little walk, was it? Probably.

But, Amethyst didn't care. There had to be something out there in the city that would make her want to write. So, she grabbed her keys, slipped on her shoes, and headed out.

While outside, the only thing Amethyst could think of was that it was windy as hell.

“Damn, I should've tied my hair up,” she said to herself, brushing it out of her face for the umpteenth time.

She walked down every sidewalk, turned every corner, and crossed every street. Still, absolutely _nothing_ came to her. Not a single, solitary thing. She was leaning up against a street light, resting her legs, when she decided she might as well just head back home and try again tomorrow. She pushed herself off the pole and almost began walking again, when something caught her eye. She looked up, and in the sky, was the unmistakable trail of a shooting star. She stared at it for a second before the thought to make a wish came to her. Was she too old for that?

“Ah, fuck it,” Amethyst breathed. “I wish… I wish there was one thing in this world that inspired me.”

It was worth a shot, wasn't it?

* * *

The sound of footsteps pounded against the pavement as Pearl ran down the sidewalk, trying to get back to her dorm as quickly as possible. The sky was dark, and she chastised herself for not getting back sooner. And, maybe it looked weird – or rather, suspicious – for her to be running through the night at top speed, but she was late enough as it was.

When she reached her building, she flew through the doors and ran upstairs to her room – on the third floor. Now, Pearl was in particularly good shape, but running all the way across campus, plus going up three flights of stairs? Not fun.

She was panting by the time she got to her floor, and when she heard a familiar voice say her name, she felt what little breath she still held in her lungs rush out of her in a nervous exhale.

“Oh, Pearl!”

Oh, _gosh_.

Her eyes met those of another girl who was coming towards her. The girl wore a bright smile on her face and her big, pink curly hair bounced with each step she took.

Pearl swallowed. This was not how she wanted to be seen at the moment. She was covered in sweat, her hair was most definitely a mess, and if she didn’t get her breathing under control, she was sure she’d look one step away from having an asthma attack. She was able to take a few more deep breaths before the girl stopped in front of her.

“I thought I missed you, I just knocked on your door and your roommate told me you weren’t there.”

“Yeah, sorry, Rose,” Pearl almost wheezed out. “I lost track of time working on an assignment in the library. But, I’m here now! And, if you give me just a minute to fix myself up, we can go.”

Rose’s face turned apologetic. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about…”

Pearl’s face dropped. She felt like she knew what was about to happen. After all, it wasn’t the first time she’d seen Rose make that face and follow it up with those words.

“Sorry, but I have to reschedule,” Rose said in the overly sympathetic voice she normally used in these kind of situations. At first, Pearl thought it was cute. Now, she just felt it was condescending. “I promised Greg I’d help him study for this quiz he has coming up–”

_You promised me we’d see that on-campus movie playing in twenty minutes_ , Pearl’s bitter thoughts interrupted.

“–and, it’s in his hardest class, which he’s always trying his hardest to do well in. I just want to help him out, so he doesn’t get let down, you know?”

_Like_ I’m _being let down, right now?_ Pearl resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

“Yeah, sure,” she replied, hoping she didn’t sound too bitter. Not that she really cared. “No problem.” _Big problem_.

“Great!” Rose grinned. “I’ll see you around, then. Have fun at the movie!”

_As if I’m still going to go_. Pearl sighed as Rose hurried off past her.

A frown planted itself on her face as she sulked down the hallway towards her room.

She unlocked her door and opened it. Only to see her roommate lying across the floor, flat on her back, looking up at her.

“Lapis, what are you doing?” Pearl asked, maneuvering around her sprawled out body to stand at the edge of her bed.

“Uh, I figured that if I lied down on the ground long enough, the earth would eventually swallow me whole,” Lapis answered. Pearl couldn’t tell if that was a cry for help or not.

“We’re on the third floor,” Pearl reminded her, nudging Lapis on the shoulder with her foot. “The earth would have to travel quite far to swallow you.”

“Okay, enough talk about swallowing,” Lapis rolled over onto her stomach and untied one of Pearl’s shoelaces. “Your mom friend, who you weirdly enough also have the hots for, stopped by just a sec ago. Got a date or something?”

Pearl grimaced. She slipped off the shoe Lapis had untied, then the other one. Slumping down on her bed, she rolled so she was facing the wall, the deepest frown settled on her face. “No. We do not have a _date._ ”

Pearl heard Lapis let out a low whistle. “Someone seems mad.”

“I'm not mad.” Pearl was obviously lying.

Lapis scoffed. “Right, you just sound like you wanna set fire to the whole city because you're the _happiest girl in the world_ ,” she finished in a sing-song voice.

There was the sound of shuffling and Pearl knew Lapis had stood up when she felt a shadow looming over her.

“So, what's your deal?” There was a creak of Lapis’ bed as she sat down on it. “You and your lady love have a fight?”

“She's not my lady love,” Pearl snapped, then took a breath, not wanting to take out her frustrations on Lapis. “The two of us were just… supposed to hang out tonight. And, she rescheduled last minute.”

“Sucks. She's blown you off a lot before, hasn't she?” Lapis asked. “Kind of crappy.”

“Lapis,” Pearl started, but her roommate kept going.

“I'm just saying, if she makes plans with you, she should go through with them. You obviously don't like being ditched all the time. She should realize that and learn to be a better friend–”

“Lapis!” Pearl shot up to a sitting position and met Lapis’ gaze with narrowed eyes. “Look, she _is_ a good friend, alright. She's… she's done so much to help me and she _cares_ about me. She's just… busy, and has a lot of plans with a lot of people. I can't always expect her to spend her time with me. It's whatever, I'm over it.”

The room was silent for a moment following Pearl's little outburst.

“Right,” Lapis eventually said, entirely unconvinced by Pearl's words. She stood up from her bed. “You’re definitely _not_ over it. And, I stand by what I said. The way she treats you is kind of crappy, and if she really does care about you, then you'd be doing her a favor by telling her so. Don't be afraid to stand up for yourself, P.”

Pearl bit down on her lip, unsure of what to say.

“Anyway,” Lapis continued, “it's pretty late. I'm gonna go get some dinner before the dining hall runs out of anything good. I'll bring you something back so you don't starve while you stay here and inevitably sulk the whole night.”

Pearl didn't bother stopping her eyeroll and fell back down on her mattress. She heard their door open and close, and once she was finally alone, she released the loudest groan.

She was frustrated and disappointed for lying in bed when she was supposed to be seeing a movie _with Rose._ And, she was honestly a little peeved that Lapis maybe had a point about Rose's behavior.

But… what was she to do about that?

Pearl thought about what Lapis had said not even a minute prior.

“Stand up for myself, huh?” She mumbled. “I wish I knew how to do that.”

Her back was turned to her window, so she didn't see the shooting star streaking across the night sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Rose isn't a jerk, I promise  
> -Amethyst is Actually Me when it comes to writing  
> -It's like after 11 p.m as I'm posting this, so if there are any mistakes, it's because I was too tired to catch them  
> -Thank you for reading, hope you liked it and choose to stick around for the rest of the story!  
> My [tumblr](http://kikilazuli.tumblr.com)


	2. Freaky Friday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nobody knows what's real and what's fantasy. Alternative title for this chapter could just be "What The Fuck".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's almost 2 a.m. I'm kind of a mess, but I hope this chapter isn't.

Pearl knew a thing or two about lucid dreams. She occasionally had them, and usually when she became aware that she was dreaming, she’d realize that her dream actually sucked and try to get herself to wake up.

This was one of those times.

She didn’t know what prompted her subconscious to have this weird, out of body, ridiculously vivid dream. But, she wanted it over. Immediately.

When Pearl realized that she'd been dreaming, it wasn't under the most pleasant circumstance. She had been lying in a bed – she wasn’t sure if it was a real mattress underneath her or a makeshift one composed entirely of pillows – when she rolled over, expecting to hit the wall next to her actual bed. Only, to fall straight to the floor, landing on her back with a crude _thud_ , because surprise! There was no wall next to the bed her mind had manifested.

That was another thing. Her brain had created the most subpar, unimpressive apartment for her to dream about, and Pearl just couldn't piece together why. Awake or asleep, she knew she had better taste than peeling wallpaper and stained carpets.

“When I wake up, I’m going to appreciate my small, but decent dorm room in all its glory,” she said to herself. Oh yeah, she also had a new voice. One that definitely freaked her out when she had first heard it.

But, if a new voice wasn’t good enough, this dream had also put her in an entirely new body to go with it!

Yeah, it wasn’t that exciting.

In fact, the only thing Pearl could say about the body she was currently in was that it was short. And, topped with so much messy, excessive hair, she thought a small animal had been on her head. She had never been more grateful for her short hair. And, she had never been less grateful to be stuck in a dream. A dream where she really, really had to pee.

Now, Pearl knew better than that. She had had her fair share of accidents as a child where she went to use the bathroom in a dream, only to wake up with a wet bed. She wasn’t about to self-sabotage.

But, man, she really had to go. _Jeez, tiny bladder to go with this tiny body?_

Pearl knew that the concept of time didn’t hold any real purpose in a dream, but if she had to guess, she spent at least an hour resisting the urge to go pee. She finally gave in when she logically came to the conclusion that if her bladder was really this full, wouldn’t she have woken up by now? That made… some sort of sense, she supposed. So, she ran to the bathroom – frowning at how messy it was – before sitting down on the toilet.

There was just something about using the bathroom in a different body than you’re used to that makes for a certain kind of awkwardness that Pearl never wanted to experience again. When she woke up, she hoped she’d be able to forget about everything.

Speaking of _that_ , Pearl made sure to splash her face with cold water from the sink several times, hoping it would help trigger her body into waking up. It didn’t. And, it may or may not have been driving her up the wall that she was _still_ stuck in this dream.

It had been quite a while since she became aware that she’d been dreaming, and normally when she realized such, she would only stick around in the lucid dream for a short period of time before her body came to. Why was this time so different? And, why was it so… realistic?

Not only was the apartment, itself, surprisingly vivid, but then there was everything else she noticed, like the outside factors. The voices she’d often hear from out in the hall, the sound of stomping coming from the floor above, the honking of cars and various other traffic noises coming from the streets. It was all so _real_.

And, Pearl just couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable, because it was like she was experiencing everyday life. Except, she wasn’t her. This everyday life wasn’t _hers_.

Even if she was doing nothing other than sitting in an apartment on a lumpy couch, occasionally glancing at the television that had been left on, she still felt like there were so many things wrong. As if she was really living in another person’s world and invading their home and privacy.

Except… that wasn’t possible?

She shook her head. No, it wasn’t. This was all just a scenario her subconscious had come up with. But then, Pearl heard her stomach growl and hunger began to course through her body. And, as she reluctantly grabbed the bag of popcorn that had been sitting on the coffee table in front of her, she couldn’t help but think that maybe this dream was a little _too_ lucid.

Pearl stared down at the small handful of popcorn that she’d collected from the bag and an uneasy feeling washed over her. _This is just so strange._

And, that thought remained in her mind, not once leaving.

* * *

Amethyst was having a pretty good day. No, scratch that, she was having a really _great_ day. Though, of course, she was enjoying herself. She _was_ convinced she was just dreaming, after all.

It started earlier when Amethyst began to come to her senses. And, instantly, she knew something was off.

For one thing, her body wasn’t surrounded by the mountain of pillows her bed was typically covered in – because sleeping with only one pillow was for people who wanted to deprive themselves of true comfort. Also, she was covered in a thick blanket rather than the thin sheet she often slept under, because her apartment got _way_ too hot at night and she couldn’t afford to have the AC on at all times. Then, there was the fact that she was lying on her stomach. She never slept on her stomach, it hurt her boobs.

So, yes, there were many things that were off.

Then, when Amethyst finally decided to blink her eyes open, she was met with the sight of a wall inches away from her face.

_What?_

Her bed was in the center of her room, and unless she had done some sleep renovating, there was no reason for her to be right next to a wall. Confused, she brought herself up to rest on her elbows, expecting her wild hair to fall in front of her face, the way it always did. Except, it didn’t. In fact, Amethyst had just realized her head felt… light. As if it wasn’t being weighed down by her long mane. Slowly, Amethyst lifted a hand up and ran it through her hair. Her eyes bulged when she realized it was short. _Too_ short.

 _What the_ – _?_

Did she get drunk sometime during the night and give herself a haircut? No, she remembered after she returned from her walk, she watched a few reruns of 90’s television, then headed to bed. No alcohol involved. So, then what the hell happened? She groaned and pushed herself up to a sitting position. And, that was when she noticed something in the corner of her eye that made her blood run cold. Almost as if she was in one of those scary movies she never liked watching, Amethyst turned her head to the right with a look of sheer horror on her face.

Across the room, in a bed parallel to hers, despite the fact that Amethyst lived _alone_ , was another person.

That was what did it for her.

“What the fuck?” She shouted, scrambling out of the bed.

Then, she realized her voice did _not_ sound like her voice. Also, why the hell did she suddenly feel so tall? She looked down at her body. And, why on earth was she so thin and pale?

“What the fuck, _what_ the _fuck_ ,” Amethyst repeated, her volume steadily increasing. Unfortunately, that caused the stranger to rouse from her sleep.

“Ugh… Pearl, why are you screaming?” The other girl yawned and rubbed at her eyes.

The wheels in Amethyst’s head were turning. Pearl?

_Uh, you’re calling me the wrong type of rock there, pal. Also, what in god’s name is going on?_

Amethyst looked around and took in her surroundings. She was definitely not in her room. And, she didn’t have a mirror to look in, but as far as she could tell, she was not in her own body.

Okay. So, this obviously wasn’t real, right?

 _Wait… I think I get it,_ Amethyst thought, _I’m totally dreaming, right? This is one of those... lucid dream things? Right, yeah, that’s totally what this is. Never had a lucid dream before. This is new. And, weird._

“Uh, Pearl?” Amethyst’s eyes flickered over to the other girl speaking and noticed that she was sitting up, looking at her with a mix of confusion and annoyance.

“Are you, like, dying or something? Because if not, I see no reason why you had to wake me up at–” She grabbed her phone off the top of her dresser that was right next to her bed and clicked it on, “–seven- _thirty_ in the morning? Jesus, I don’t need to be in class for another _two_ hours.”

 _Class?_ Amethyst blinked. It suddenly occurred to her that what she was standing in did look like a dorm room. _You’re kidding me, my first lucid dream and my subconscious puts me in a college?_

So, maybe Amethyst wasn’t a fan of school. She did two years of community college online, and even that was too much for her. If it weren’t for a promise she’d made her mom to get a degree of some sort, she never would’ve done it.

“There’s no way I’m gonna be able to go back to sleep, so thanks for that,” the girl continued to speak. “Maybe I’ll shower, then go for a really long breakfast.”

She got up out of her bed, stretched her body, then looked at Amethyst with an eyebrow raised. “You okay? Just a second ago, you were shouting, now you’re dead quiet.”

Even if it wasn’t real, Amethyst figured she should still say something to get this girl off her back. Then, maybe she could go out as well and actually do things she’d want to do in a dream.

“Um,” she tested her voice, still finding it bizarre that she sounded so different. _Guess it just came with the body._ That was a sentence she never pictured herself thinking. “Yeah, I’m… I’m fine.”

“But, why were you screaming?” The girl asked. “You know, I’ve never actually heard you swear before, then all of a sudden, I’m being awoken by you shouting _what the fuck_. Hmm, actually, I don’t know if I should be annoyed by that or entertained.”

“Go for entertained,” Amethyst replied breezily, trying to get through the conversation as fast as possible.

The girl shrugged a shoulder, accepting the answer, then walked past Amethyst, busying herself by shuffling around the room for something. Amethyst didn’t pay attention to what she was doing. Instead, her eyes found focus on the dresser identical to the other girl’s that was next to the bed _she_ had been in. On it was a pad of sticky notes, a pen, a phone, and a wallet. Without even thinking, she felt her legs move.

Standing in front of the dresser, she kneeled down and picked up the wallet. Intrigued, she opened it. The first thing she saw was a driver’s license. It didn’t surprise her when she read the name _Pearl_ on it. That was what that other girl had called her.

 _Guess that’s who I am in this dream._ She looked at the picture. _And, that’s what I look like? Eh… not bad._

She noted that there was also a debit card and a few twenty dollar bills inside of it. Real Amethyst had about three dollars and a stick of gum in her wallet. She was starting to like this dream way more.

Behind her, a voice announced, “I’m gonna go to the showers.” Amethyst turned to look at the other girl as she opened the room door. “And, uh… I may have _misplaced_ my key. It’s totally not lost, I swear, but the point is, I don’t have it right now. So, don’t lock the door when you leave for your class.”

Amethyst physically felt her body recoil. “Class?” _Gross._

“Uh, yeah. You know, the one that starts in, like, less than half an hour? The one you normally would’ve already left for?”

 _Okay, no._ Amethyst was not spending her dream in class.

“Yeah, no thanks,” Amethyst snorted. “I'd rather not.”

“What?” The girl was looking at her with comically wide eyes. “You're… not going?”

“Nope,” Amethyst popped her lips.

The room was quiet for a moment.

“You sure you're okay? Like really, _really_ okay?” The girl asked.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Again, I'm fine, just got other stuff I wanna do.”

The girl gave her a once-over. “Alright… do what you want, I guess.” Then in a quieter voice, she muttered, “Pearl ditching class, never thought I'd see the day.”

Finally, she turned to leave out of the room and closed the door behind her. Now alone, Amethyst let out a few chuckles, giddy with excitement. She clutched the wallet in her hand, then went to head out of the door herself. When she opened it, she saw on the other side, two name tags. One said _Pearl,_ and the other, _Lapis._ Must've been the other girl's name. But, Amethyst didn't care about her at the moment.

She didn't care about anything other than herself, and how she was going to spend this dream before she woke up.

Closing the door behind her, Amethyst twirled the wallet in her fingers, ready to explore the new world before her.

“Well, _Pearl_ ,” she cracked a smile. “Let's go have some fun. Maybe be reckless and spend a bunch of money? Who the fuck cares, I’m dreaming.”

And, that was what she had let herself believe.

From the minute she made her way out of the dorm building, she found herself running around the campus, hoping to find things to entertain herself with.

Her first stop was the student union, which she had discovered after some time of walking. Inside of it, there was a café. And, of course, Amethyst ordered the biggest cinnamon roll she could, because what else were dreams for? Then, she sat outside on the edge of a fountain with her feet in the water as she ate it.

Afterwards, she wandered around until she saw a few people in a large patch of grass tossing a frisbee around. It looked a bit fun. Plus, she may have overestimated how exciting a college campus could be, so playing a little game seemed better than nothing.

She ran over to them, shouting, “Hey, mind if I join?”

The group happily accepted her and introduced themselves. There were two girls, Jenny and Kiki, who looked to be twins. A guy named Buck, and another one named… Sour Cream. Whatever, it was a dream, she wasn’t going to question it. When they asked for her name, she almost said it was Amethyst, but for the sake of consistency, she caught herself and told them it was Pearl.

They threw the frisbee around for a while, before the two girls said they had to leave for class. The guys said they should head off too, and all of them said their goodbyes to Amethyst, commending her on her nice throwing and catching skills.

 _If only they knew the real me who can’t catch for shit,_ Amethyst chuckled to herself, then moved on to find something else to do.

She ended up heading back to the student union. She passed by the café and found a casual sitting area where there was also a television playing… Spongebob Squarepants? Not only that, there were about a dozen other people there paying rapt attention to the show. Amethyst was about to question it, then she remembered that college kids totally had their weird obsessions with cartoons. If anything, she should’ve seen it coming.

 _Eh, whatever_ , she sighed and found a place to sit down, joining the others looking at the television.

So, it turned out, Spongebob was not only mindless comedy, but it was fucking hypnotic as well. Because, one episode turned into two, then two turned into four, until finally, Amethyst was able to tear her gaze away from the screen and physically shake herself out of her trance.

“Jesus christ,” she grumbled as she forced herself to leave the vicinity. The talking sponge was not worth _that_ much of her time.

She made her way back outside and was hit with the faint sound of music. She turned in the direction it was coming from and saw a man in the distance, strumming a guitar.

Amethyst’s entire being lit up as she began to run towards him, without even a second thought. Her mind went back to her real life situation, the one where she had to write a good song by the following week. Maybe this dream was good for something other than her goofing off, and could actually provide her with some inspiration courtesy of the guy she was headed towards.

“Hey!” Amethyst cheered when she reached him. Immediately, his eyes widened in shock. His fingers messily stumbled over the guitar strings before coming to a complete halt and his mouth gaped open for a moment before he chose to speak.

“Um, h-hey,” he let out a nervous laugh and ran a hand through his long, tousled hair that reminded Amethyst of her own, “how’s it, uh, going, Pearl?”

Pearl. Right. That was who Amethyst apparently was.

“I’m great, dude, but listen, I take it you make music?” She was convinced this guy was some sort of dream guru that would supply her with knowledgeable wisdom and she wanted to get right to the point. “Do you mind maybe giving me a little advice?”

The man’s face morphed into confusion. “Wait– you want me to give you _advice_?”

Amethyst nodded once. “Yeah. That’s what I said.”

He looked at her, perplexed. “Woah. I mean, sorry no offense, but this is just… unexpected. Because, you’re, like, _way_ smarter than me so I never thought you’d ever ask me for advice. In fact, I never thought you'd ask me about anything ever. You've... never actually really talked to me before.”

Amethyst didn’t know what to make of that, so she ignored it. “Yeah, well, I’m working on something and I have total writer’s block and I don’t know what to do.”

“Writer’s block does suck,” the guy agreed. “But, hey, whenever I’m working on my music and my brain gets stuck, I just do stuff to get it up and running again.”

“Like what?” Amethyst pressed.

“Like, watching movies and stuff. And, going on little adventures and having fun.”

“So, you… goof off?” Amethyst raised an eyebrow.

“I wouldn’t call it goofing off, I’d say it’s more like…” He put his finger on his chin in thought, “mandatory break time to rest my head. You know, I think my work is important, but I gotta take breaks from it sometimes or else I’d drive myself insane. It helps not to force anything. Just give it a little time. You may not know what to do now, but it’ll come to you naturally when the moment is right.”

“Woah,” Amethyst repeated his word from earlier. His words… actually sort of did help a bit. _Thanks dream guru dude._ She was seconds away from asking him to play something, hoping it wouldn’t be a song she already knew from the radio or something. However before she could, someone else caught her attention.

“Pearl?”

Amethyst turned towards the sound of the voice and noticed the girl from earlier walking up to her, with a backpack strapped on one arm and a skateboard tucked underneath the other. _What was her name again? Lisa? Lucy?_

“Hey, Lapis,” the guy waved to her.

_Riiight, Lapis._

“Hey, Greg,” she greeted, stopping a few feet away from the both of them.

 _Greg, huh?_ Amethyst supposed that was a better name than dream guru.

“How’s it going?” He asked.

“My class just ended, so wonderful,” Lapis replied, before looking back over to Amethyst. She looked her up and down. “You’re still in your pajamas? And… _barefoot_?”

Amethyst glanced down. She was wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of navy colored shorts. She barely classified that as pajamas, her own street style was very similar. But, yeah… she wasn’t wearing shoes. Maybe that was why her feet were aching.

“You know, I always considered going shoeless,” Greg said, “I think it makes some people look pretty cool. Like, they’re one with nature or something.”

“Don’t go shoeless, you’ll look more homeless than you already do,” Lapis fired back. Though, her tone was playful and Greg snickered, so Amethyst didn’t think it was meant to be mean. Lapis turned to her. “You, on the other hand…”

“I think I make it work,” Amethyst shrugged. “Put a flower crown on my head and I could be one of those pastel, hippie bloggers that are always on the internet and make a bunch of money for doing nothing.”

Lapis snorted, but then caught herself. She looked genuinely shocked as she said, “I can’t believe I almost just laughed at something you said. Are you getting funnier or is my sense of humor depleting?”

“Who knows,” Amethyst answered. “Anyway, not that this conversation hasn’t been _riveting_ , but I should go back to what I was doing.” What she had been doing was trying to have fun, but so far, all she’d done was eat, play frisbee, and watch a cartoon. She was trying to reach maximum enjoyment before this dream ended and she hadn’t exactly been living it up earlier. “Actually… do you guys know anything I can do around here that’ll be fun?”

“Your version of fun, or our version of fun?” Lapis questioned.

“Depends on what you can think of.”

A sneaky smile grew on Lapis’ face, one that made Amethyst both nervous and excited. “Believe me, I can think of a _lot_ of things.”

And, with those words prompted a series of events that Amethyst could only describe as the _best dream ever_.

* * *

The last thing Pearl remembered was being in the dark, lying down on a couch and thinking there was something wrong with her. She swore that she’d been dreaming for what felt like a millennium and nothing she tried would wake her up. She was just stuck, sitting there, alone with her thoughts. And, she hated it. So, she closed her eyes and made herself think of nothing.

But then, her eyes were opening again and she was no longer on a couch. She was in a bed, _her_ bed. Facing the wall in _her_ dorm. She was finally back, she had finally woken up from that seemingly never-ending dream. The realization made her feel so relieved and excited, she could’ve jumped for joy.

Except, she didn’t think her body would be able to jump. She didn’t think her body would be able to even get up. Because, for some unknown reason, Pearl felt like she had just been _steamrolled_.

Her legs felt numb, her feet felt like she had been prancing around on glass, her stomach was in knots, there was a stinging pain coming from her left elbow, her skin smelled like salt, and her throat felt sore.

_What… in the world?_

Pearl groaned and rolled over onto her back.

“Oh, hey, you’re awake.” Lapis’ voice rang throughout the room, making Pearl jolt in surprise. Lapis was usually still knocked out asleep whenever she woke up on time for her early morning classes. Did that mean…?

“Oh my god,” Pearl blurted out, “What time is it?”

“Uh,” Lapis checked her phone. “Almost nine. And, good morning to you, too.”

“Oh, _no_ ,” Pearl hissed and sat up in bed so fast, she got a headrush. She ignored it and threw her blanket off her, shooting up out of bed and almost tumbling over her numb legs and aching feet. “I’m late, I’m _so_ late.”

Lapis gave her a strange look. “Jeez, calm down, Pearl, there’s no fire. And, late for what?”

“Class, what else?” Pearl snapped. She didn’t have time to shower, but lord, she really needed to. Why the hell did her body feel so gross?

“Um, Pearl?”

She ignored Lapis calling her and started to gather her things.

“Hellooo, Pearl?”

Still, she didn’t respond. Pearl stalked off towards their door and her hand was inches away from touching the doorknob, when Lapis shouted, “Pearl, it’s _Saturday_. You don’t _have_ any classes.”

Pearl froze. Then, she shook her head. Surely, Lapis was messing with her. “Nice try.”

“I’m not joking, you weirdo.” Pearl’s back was turned to her, but she could just see the eyeroll on Lapis’ face. “It’s the weekend, yesterday was Friday. You don’t have class today. In fact, you blew off your classes yesterday, so what’s with this sudden concern? You’re twenty-four hours too late, P.”

Gears were turning in Pearl’s head. There was no way today was Saturday. She had fallen asleep last night, which was _Thursday_ , and now she was awake on the current day, Friday. She didn’t just skip a whole day and forget about it. And, there was definitely no way _she_ had blown off her classes. She’d never do that.

Pearl turned back around and marched over to her dresser to grab her phone, wanting to settle this silly game immediately. She turned it on and checked the date. Lapis couldn’t tell her it was Saturday when she had proof that it was… Saturday? Pearl blinked. No, that couldn’t be right. She looked at her calender. Which said it was Saturday. Her finger began to shake as she even opened a web browser to type into Google, _what day is it?_

Saturday.

That was not possible.

She fell asleep on Thursday night, thinking about how she was disappointed she hadn’t gotten to spend time with Rose, and then she had woken up. On Saturday? That just… wasn’t plausible. She couldn’t have just gone from Thursday to Saturday with no inbetween.

That was when Pearl felt her heart stop for a minute. Because, suddenly, she _did_ remember an inbetween.

That dream. That dream that seemed to go on for… an entire day.

Pearl slowly set her phone back down on her dresser, then sat back down on her bed. Her entire body was still, her eyes stared into nothing, and her heart was pounding.

 _That… is not…_ _possible_.

That dream… well, it _had_ just been a dream, right? It had to have been. There was no other explanation for it. It had been a dream… an extremely vivid lucid dream, that was so realistic, Pearl felt like she had been intruding in someone else’s life. But, that had only been a thought. It wasn't supposed to have meant anything. It wasn't supposed to have been…

Real.

Pearl swallowed roughly.

Now, she was a smart girl. She knew better than to believe that she had just switched lives with someone. That was fantasy, something a child would make-believe. There was no logical, scientific way that had actually happened.

But… what if it had?

Pearl took a large breath. Okay. She was going to calm down, she was going to get her head on straight, and she was going to properly think about this scenario.

She shook herself out of her stupor and met Lapis’ gaze. Her roommate was staring at her in deep confusion.

Pearl balled her hands into fists, took another big breath, then relaxed her body. “Lapis…”

“Yeah? You okay, you seem _really_ out of it.”

“I… I _am_ really out of it.” Pearl decided to put on the act. “Sorry, I… forgot today was Saturday. It’s just that, my head has been feeling weird lately, and my memory is also pretty fuzzy. I don’t remember much of yesterday at all. You said… you said that I blew off my classes. Can you tell me what else I did? Some stuff felt like a dream, I just want to remember everything that really happened.”

“Uh, okay, sure,” Lapis gave her a curious look, but didn’t ask any questions. “Well, the first thing you did was wake up screaming, like you were scared or something. Then, you calmed down, said you weren’t going to class, then left. And, I guess you were wandering around campus for a while, trying to entertain yourself, because after my class had ended, I ran into you and you asked me if I knew any fun things to do.”

Pearl listened in mild horror as Lapis launched into a story of how the two of them had supposedly spent the whole afternoon walking all over town, which Pearl had for some reason done barefoot (that explained the numb legs and the pain in her feet). Then, they had taken a bus down to the beach and swam in the ocean (that explained why she smelled like salt and felt so gross). They went to the beach's resident amusement park and ate a bunch of junk food (that explained the knots in her stomach), took turns riding on Lapis’ skateboard, which she had apparently fallen off of and scraped her elbow (that explained the stinging). And to top it all off, they ended their little adventure with a bonfire that they had somehow gotten swept into with some other people who had been at the beach. A bonfire, which had turned into a karaoke party that Pearl had sung in. A lot. That explained the sore throat.

However, there was one thing that the story didn’t explain. _And, that was how the actual f–_

“Thank you, Lapis,” Pearl said, almost too loudly, in order to silence the screaming in her head. “Thanks for helping me remember. Uh, I think… I’m going to go shower now.”

“Do you remember the way there?” Lapis joked.

Pearl forced out a laugh, but inside she was crying so, _so_ hard.

She got up from her bed and grabbed her shower bag, trying her hardest not to let her limbs start shaking. She quickly walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Outside in the hall, Pearl all but collapsed against the wall and bit down on her fist to stop from screaming.

Something had happened yesterday. Something unexplainable, absurd, and a little bit frightening. Something that Pearl didn’t know how to deny because deep down, she knew… it _had_ been real.

And, she couldn’t believe she was thinking this, but… she _wished_ this was just one big dream.

* * *

When Amethyst woke up, her back was in pain. She quickly noticed it was because she had slept on her couch.

“Damn it,” she grunted. She was about to sit up when she realized something.

She hadn’t fallen asleep on her couch. She had most definitely made herself get up and get into her bed, to specifically avoid falling asleep on the couch and dealing with a bad back. So, how had she gotten there?

She tried to remember if she had woken up during the night, but the only thing she recalled was having the greatest dream she’d ever had. It was a shame it had to come to an end, she’d had more fun in her subconscious than she’d had in years in the real world. And, she had been so active in that dream, maybe that was why she had ended up on the couch. Maybe, she’d just done a little sleepwalking.

Amethyst got up from the couch and stretched, wincing at the pain in her back and headed back to her room. She sat down on the edge of her bed and grabbed her phone off her nightstand to check the time. Only, when she unlocked it, she saw five new text messages. She was glad her phone was on silent and the messages didn't wake her up. Who was so desperate to contact her before her eyes had even opened? Her coworker, Peridot. Of course. Amethyst frowned and read through the texts.

**[8:57 AM] Where are you, you know Holly will throw a fit if you’re late.**

**[9:04 AM] Amethyst...you okay?**

**[9:22 AM] I covered for you and told Holly you were sick. I assume you’re probably dying since you’re not even replying**

**[9:22 AM] Wait, but don’t like actually die ok**

**[6:03 PM] Ugh, Holly was a nightmare today. Get better and come back to work so I have someone to complain with**

“What the…” Amethyst would never miss a day of work, unless she – like Peridot had mentioned – was actually dying. And, she wasn't talking about her songwriting gig, here. Her main job was one in advertising and her boss, Holly, was terrifying and she never wanted to be on the receiving end of her unsolicited rage, so Amethyst made sure she was always on time and always there. So, why was Peridot saying she wasn’t? She had definitely been at work yesterday.

Amethyst was about to reply, asking Peridot what she was going on about, when she froze. Because, her eyes had focused on the date Peridot’s texts were sent.

_Friday? But, wait… today is Friday… but, it’s only eight in the morning, how could Peridot possibly send me these texts at times the day hasn’t even reached?_

Amethyst made a face. She always thought Peridot reminded her of an alien. Did she have powers like one, which involved time travel? Okay, maybe not. Then, what the fuck else was going on, and how did she have a text from Friday evening when it was still Friday morning? Amethyst exited out of her messages and looked at her homescreen that displayed the date.

Oh.

It wasn’t Friday morning. It was Saturday morning.

_Oh._

Amethyst stared down at her phone for what had to have been a solid two minutes before she recollected herself. That wasn’t… there was no way… _what?_

It was _Saturday?_ Yeah, okay, that had to be bullshit. Yesterday had been Thursday, she knew because she had eaten pizza for dinner, which she had gotten from a pizzeria down the block that she only ever went to on Thursdays, because that was the one day a week they sold their pizza half off. She never stepped foot in that place any other day of the week, especially not Friday.

Did her phone just have the date wrong? She googled it. Still Saturday. The fuck?

_Look, I know I sleep a lot, but there’s no possible way I slept through an entire day. I know I used to wish I could do that, but that shit did not happen. So… what did?_

Was she just forgetting everything she had done yesterday? Did something happen to her head that fucked up her memory? She tried to think back and remember something that may have happened to her, but there was nothing from Friday that she could recall. All she remembered was falling asleep, having a wonderful dream, then waking up to this mess.

_Hmm… I have more vivid memories of that dream than I do of yesterday. But, that dream felt so real, it’d be hard to forget._

Amethyst didn’t realize the gravity of what she had thought until she had laid back against her mattress. Only, to shoot right back up.

That dream… it _had_ been unbelievably realistic. But, wasn’t that just how lucid dreams were? She had no clue, she’d never had one before, she didn’t know much about them. All she knew was that she had started her dream in another person’s body, had a lot of fun throughout the day, went back to the dorm room after it was all over and lied in bed, then the dream ended.

Amethyst frowned at herself. _Wait, backtrack._

She had started the dream in another person’s body? No, that didn’t seem like the right way to describe it. She had…

Amethyst gasped.

She had _woken up_ in another person’s body. She had been in someone else’s bed, in their dorm, at their college…

 _People called me Pearl._ Because… that’s who she had been.

Amethyst felt her heartbeat quicken. “Holy shit, holy fucking shit.”

She’d woken up in Pearl’s body, been in Pearl’s world, and lived Pearl’s day for her, from the moment her eyes opened, to the moment they closed.

That was what she had done on Friday.

_Oh god, is it too early to scream at the top of my lungs right now?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Pearl's "dream" segment in the beginning is so short and uneventful. I wanted to make it longer and more interesting, but I just couldn't see her doing anything else than just...sitting there, waiting for it to end. Also sorry this chapter took way longer than I intended to write, Greg's little speech about having to take breaks was 110% inspired by how I spent this whole week not writing because I thought it'd help me want to write. Yeah, I don't think that makes much sense. Anyway, thanks for reading! (And if you leave a comment, I'll actually remember to reply this time)


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